Brazil stock exchange operator B3 shares rise on improved profit

SAO PAULO, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Shares in the Brazilian stock exchange operator B3 SA were up 1.8 percent on Friday morning after the company posted an increase in third-quarter results on Thursday.

Recurring net income came in at 613.4 million reais ($163.26 million), up 37.8 percent from a year earlier, as higher revenues offset a financial loss.

Total revenues went up 8.7 percent, to 1.27 billion reais, with growth in all business lines, such as equities and derivatives.

The company said on Thursday it signed a binding offer to acquire a 75 percent stake in BLK Sistemas Financeiros for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition aims at increasing the offer of high frequency services, said the company.

It is B3’s first deal after the takeover of rival clearinghouse Cetip SA in 2016, but the head of investor relations Rogerio Santana ruled out any big acquisition in the pipeline.

In a note to clients, Brasil Plural analysts said that B3 is likely “to embark on a period of improving efficiency via cost rationalization, following the typical path of exchange mergers globally.”

In a conference call with B3 management, analysts expressed some worries as three Brazilian companies listed their shares in the United States this year; card processors PagSeguro Digital Ltd and StoneCo Ltd and education company Arco Platform Ltd.

Chief Financial Officer Daniel Sonder said he believed it was a trend more linked to technology companies, but that B3 was in talks with regulators to change some existing barriers to the listing of Brazilian Depositary Receipts (BDRs). ($1 = 3.7572 reais) (Reporting by Aluisio Alves; Writing by Carolina Mandl; Editing by Bernadette Baum)